Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Did I just make buckeyes?I think I did.I set out fully
intending to make peanut butter cups, but in my effort to avoid the little
paper cups, I ended up with a different candy!The recipe is from One Good Thing by Jillee, who got it from RadMegan.The only ingredient I changed is the
chocolate.Instead of using a bag of
chocolate chips I bought bulk bar chocolate.

Melt the butter in a large bowl in the microwave.Stir in the peanut butter, then the
sugar.Refrigerate.Once it’s firmed up a little, scoop up
teaspoonfuls (I happen to have a scoop for this, but you can also roll
spoonfuls into balls) onto a plate and put it in the freezer.While it’s freezing, melt the chocolate in a
bowl over a pot of simmering water.Dip
the peanut butter balls into the chocolate with a fork, scraping excess
chocolate on the side of the bowl.Lay
the dipped ball on parchment paper, silicone mat, or flattened plastic
bag.Freeze until firm and peel off the
mat.

Note about working with chocolate- even though you are melting the chocolate over water, DO NOT LET IT GET WET! The chocolate will seize and you'll have to toss it.

Combination dip/spoon on the chocolate, then scrape the excess off on the bowl edge.

Where is my silicone mat? This worked surprisingly well in its absence.

Try It

$6.23 for 1.03lb,
or $6.05 per lb

Buy It

Martin’s has bulk mini Reese’s for $4.49 per lb

Verdict

They are crazy good.I have a lot of chocolate left over, so I might re-dip them for a little
extra chocolate kick.Unfortunately they
are a little pricey compared to the pre-made ones, so even though they were
pretty easy, especially since I made them little at a time throughout the day,
I think I will just Buy It. It was worth a shot, anyway!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Just want to say - 2013 has not been my year so far.Though it's had its moments, it's mostly been a year of sick kids, a severed pinky
tip for Elizabeth, an unusually wild Spencer, bad weather, and general
blah-ness.Thanks for hanging in there
with me, people!Maybe when the warm
weather finally gets here for good it’ll clear out the cobwebs a little and I
can get some great projects going!

I was actually pretty excited to try out a homemade cream
cheese recipe.There’s a reason that I
haven’t tried to make bagels yet.I have
the good fortune to live near the best bagel shop I’ve ever been to: Bodo’sBagels.They’re soft inside, chewy
outside, a little crunchy on the bottom…They’re better than real New York bagels.I’m serious. We got a bunch over the weekend
as we do periodically and shoved them in the freezer after tearing into a
few.So I thought cream cheese would be
perfect, and the recipe didn’t look too difficult…

I’m not even going to break it down for you, it was such a
fail.The sad part was I know what I did
wrong, and if I had time to go back to the store and get all the curdled
nastiness off everything in time to write this, I would have.I just forgot that you can’t use ultra
pasteurized milk to make cheese.Eesh.

FAIL

At least Spencer had fun!

So I thought I’d make a brownie in a mug, a great
replacement for those simultaneously genius and ridiculous (and wasteful!) WarmDelight things, and a perfect little treat for a rainy Wednesday.I’ve made it before, but last time it came
out pretty dry, so this time I went on Pinterestto look at the wide array of recipes.I went for this one because it was touted as
not being dry and spongy.I must have
missed something, because instead it came out rock hard and inedible!Eesh again.Since I still have the first recipe, I’ll break than one down
instead.It’s pretty good.I originally found it though my friend Em’s
family blog.

In a small bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.Stir in egg, followed by the milk and oil.Place bowl in microwave for about 2
minutes.Cook for additional time if
needed, but it’s better underdone than overdone!

Try It

$.82 for a single
serving.They say it serves two, but who
are we kidding- you’re going to eat the whole thing.

Buy It

Oddly my local grocery store didn’t have them, but Warm
Delights are $15.92 for 8 on Amazon,
or $1.99

each for the 3.35oz size.

Verdict

For a quick chocolate fix, this does hit the spot.Try it.Not the rock version, but this one.And don’t go to the grocery store after supper in the rain, you’ll get
distracted and forget important things like ultra pasteurization!

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About Me

My name is Laura, and I live in central Virginia. I'm an enthusiastic but untrained crafter and cook who likes to try new projects. If you have a project you'd like me to analyze, let me know! Leave a comment or email me at tryitorbuyit@gmail.com, and I'll see what I can do.